The mottled grasshopper Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Thunberg) (Orth.: Acrididae) new to the Isle of Arran

1 Pages·1998·0.49 MB·English

by  Alex Ramsay

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 175
Some inland records ofAgrotis trux lunigera Stephens (Lep.; Noctuidae)
Two males ofthis species have recently been recorded from Berkshire (administrative
county) localities, the first from Slough, 16 Gilmore Close (VC24 - Bucks),
18.vii.l992 (data from MRH) and the second from a mercury-vapour light trap at
Emmer Green, SU718773 (VC23 - Oxfordshire), 7.vii.l997, leg. DON (specimen at
the Museum ofReading). The occurrence ofthis species inland in Britain is puzzling
as the British subspecies is reportedly both strictly coastal and sedentary. In Heath
and Emmet (1979, The Moths andButterflies ofGreat Britain andIreland. 9. Harley
Books) it is described as "Chiefly an inhabitant ofsea cliffs . . ., but sometimes found
a few hundred metres inland .". On the continent A. trux regularly occurs inland
. .
(distribution map in Svendsen & Fibiger, 1992, The distribution ofEuropean
Macrolepidoptera Fauna Lepidopterorum Europaeorum. 1. Noctuinae. 1: 215) but
the two males agreed well with the British subspecies lunigera in having narrower,
more oblong wings and darker coloration. While only two Berkshire specimens have
been seen, additional literature records have been found for Bedfordshire - Aspley
Heath, SP9436 (Arnold et al., 1997, The Butterflies and Moths ofBedfordshire.
Bedford: 327) and for Oxfordshire - Studley Village, near Bernwood Forest
(Waring, 1990, Ent. Rec. 102: 233-238). This raises the possibility of at least one
inland colony or perhaps dispersing adults. If there is such a colony, the favoured
habitats are a matter of speculation, although cliff-like habitats such as railway
cuttings and quarries would be worth investigating.- David G. Notton, Reading
Museum Service, Museum of Reading, Blagrave Street, Reading RGl IQH &
Martin R. Honey, Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum,
London SW7 5BD.
The mottled grasshopper Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Thunberg)
(Orth.: Acrididae) new to the Isle ofArran
Three new colonies of this species were found during 1996 at various localities on
the Isle of Arran (VC 100). This species has apparently never been recorded before
on Arran and there are no records in Marshall & Haes (1988. Grasshoppers and
allied insects ofGreat Britain and Ireland. Harley Books) or the more recent work
by Haes & Harding (1997. Atlas of grasshoppers, crickets and allied insects in
Britain andIreland).
A single female was initially found on 5 July 1996 at Shiskine Golf Course,
Blackwaterfoot (OS grid ref. NR 887288) on a bare sandy patch on the south-
facing side of an unvegetated dune. Further colonies were found on 20 July 1996
at Brodick Bay, Brodick (NS 013370) in a disturbed area between golf links and
fore-dunes and at Sannox (NS 017453), where a single male was captured at the
top of a sandy beach amongst sparse vegetation. All three colonies are apparently
very small, with a maximum of six males stridulating at the Brodick colony on 20
July 1996.- Alex Ramsay, Dryfemount, Dundas Street, Bo'ness, West Lothian
EH51 ODG.